Jun 2, 2006

Illustration Friday - Portrait

A serendipitous offering for IF.Early this morning, I was frustrated trying to take a picture of me for this blog wearing my latest knitted shawl (via the mirror-in-the-bathroom method of self-portrait) and decided that just wasn't going to work this time. So I photographed it on the old folding wooden chair I love to use to show off my knitting. As I was getting the picture ready to upload, and thinking about the chair being the model instead of me, the title came to me...et voila! I decided to use this for my Illo Friday offering today.

NOTE: Sunday 06.04.06 I’ve thought about this for two days now and have decided to add this note.On Friday I was informed by Penelope essentially that this is not appropriate for Illustration Friday, and when I wrote for clarification (my note to her is posted in comments) was told IF wants to stick to a more formal definition of illustration (’drawing or collage medium’ ) and directed to a photography site.

As I don’t have a scanner right now, all my submissions since I started participating have been either photographs of assembled or found objects, digital collages with some drawing or words added, or Appleworks drawings with my mouse. As my primary love is fiber art, I had hoped to do more utilizing it, as in this piece as well as the one I did for last week’s theme Cake.

I still consider this photograph an appropriate illustration of the theme Portrait. Besides the literal fact that the chair is in the picture substituting for me, I also saw (albeit slight) some visual allusion to the iconic “Portrait of the Painter’s Mother” by Whistler. All in all, it seemed quite appropriate for this week’s IF and even a tad witty.

If I had put words into the picture or manipulated it with Photoshop, would it then become a formally defined “illustration?’ If not, then few of my submissions to date have been appropriate for IF.

I do not have the heart or will to argue this point beyond the initial response I sent Penelope or to worry about this formal definition each week.

So this is probably my last IF submission. I have really enjoyed the challenge each week and will always feel grateful for the creative sparks each one ignited as well as the kind email and comments I’ve received from others.

I am somewhat confused. I chose to illustrate the topic with a conceptual take on a picture I made of a hand-knitted shawl on a chair.

I have been participating in IF for months now and have often (not always) used digital photographs of objects sometimes as found, sometimes arranged, in my interpretation of the theme of the week. Last week for "Cake" I put a freeform knitted/crocheted hat on a plate and photographed it for my entry. Often these pieces are the ones that generate the most comments.

Is this not illustration of the topic?I will feel very disappointed if this is the case, as I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of coming up with visual interpretations of the weekly themes. IF has been a catalyst for creativity for me and it makes me sad to think that I won't be able to participate fully in the future.

"Zahn,I absoutely love your "portrait" and I did think of "Whistler's Mother" when I first saw it.

It reminds me of a time in art school when I painted a chair with a hat floating above it. It was the only painting of mine that was ever chosen to be hung in the school gallery, and I was thrilled, but my joy was dampened a little when I heard that the people who were choosing the art couldn't decide if they like mine or not.

At least this kind of portrait forces the viewer to think!

And I don't know what IF is, but I think you should keep doing it on your own. It's your blog and if it makes you happy, go for it!

About Me

Professor's wife, mother of four, zannma to two. Grew up in Coral Gables, Florida, transplanted to Indiana at age 40, where I saw my first snow and learned to love wool. We homeschooled three of the kids, I helped to create a used bookshop ( Wabash River Books 1996-2005)and became an online bookseller. I started this blog in 2005 to share my mid-life artwork (primarily fiber), poetry and creative explorations. On March 18, 2006 my 20 year-old son Patrick died...and my world irrevocably changed.
I own 64 years now. Life is very mysterious, magickal, beautiful and sweet and sad.